羅斯百貨 (ROST) 2023 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon, and welcome to the Ross Stores Second Quarter 2023 Earnings Release Conference Call. The call will begin with prepared comments by management followed by a question-and-answer session.

下午好，歡迎參加 Ross Stores 2023 年第二季度收益發布電話會議。電話會議將首先由管理層準備好評論，然後進行問答環節。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Before we get started, on behalf of Ross Stores, I would like to note that the comments made on this call will contain forward-looking statements regarding expectations about future growth and financial results, including sales and earnings forecasts, new store openings and other matters that are based on the company's current forecast of aspects of its future business. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from historical performance or current expectations. Risk factors are included in today's press release and in the company's fiscal 2022 Form 10-K and fiscal 2023 Form 10-Q and 8-Ks on file with the SEC. And now I would like to turn the call over to Barbara Rentler, Chief Executive Officer.

在我們開始之前，我謹代表 Ross Stores 指出，在本次電話會議中發表的評論將包含有關未來增長和財務業績預期的前瞻性陳述，包括銷售和盈利預測、新店開業和其他事項這些數據基於公司當前對其未來業務各方面的預測。這些前瞻性陳述存在風險和不確定性，可能導致實際結果與歷史業績或當前預期存在重大差異。風險因素包含在今天的新聞稿以及公司向 SEC 備案的 2022 財年 10-K 表格以及 2023 財年 10-Q 和 8-K 表格中。現在我想將電話轉給首席執行官芭芭拉·倫特勒 (Barbara Rentler)。

Good afternoon. Joining me on our call today are Michael Hartshorn, Group President, Chief Operating Officer; Adam Orvos, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; and Connie Kao, Group Vice President, Investor Relations. We'll begin our call today with a review of our second quarter 2023 performance, followed by our updated outlook for the second half and fiscal year. Afterwards, we'll be happy to respond to any questions you may have.

下午好。今天參加我們電話會議的還有集團總裁兼首席運營官 Michael Hartshorn； Adam Orvos，執行副總裁兼首席財務官；以及投資者關係集團副總裁 Connie Kao。我們今天將首先回顧 2023 年第二季度的業績，然後更新下半年和財年的前景。之後，我們將很樂意回答您的任何問題。

As noted in today's press release, we are pleased with our second quarter results with both sales and earnings well above our expectations. Along with easing inflationary pressures, customers responded well to our improved value offerings throughout our stores. Total sales for the period were $4.9 billion, up from $4.6 billion last year, while comparable store sales rose 5%.

正如今天的新聞稿所述，我們對第二季度的業績感到滿意，銷售額和收益均遠高於我們的預期。隨著通脹壓力的緩解，顧客對我們整個商店提供的優質產品反應良好。這一時期的總銷售額為 49 億美元，高於去年的 46 億美元，而同店銷售額增長了 5%。

Earnings per share for the 13 weeks ended July 29, 2023, were $1.32 on net income of $446 million. These results compared to $1.11 per share on net earnings of $385 million in the prior year's second quarter. For the first 6 months, earnings per share were $2.41 on net income of $818 million. These results compared to earnings per share of $2.08 on net earnings of $723 million in the first half of 2022. Sales to 2023 year-to-date period were $9.4 billion, with comparable sales up 3% versus a 7% decline in the first half of last year.

截至 2023 年 7 月 29 日的 13 週每股收益為 1.32 美元，淨利潤為 4.46 億美元。相比之下，去年第二季度的淨利潤為每股 1.11 美元，淨利潤為 3.85 億美元。前 6 個月，每股收益為 2.41 美元，淨利潤為 8.18 億美元。相比之下，2022 年上半年每股收益為 2.08 美元，淨利潤為 7.23 億美元。截至 2023 年年初至今的銷售額為 94 億美元，可比銷售額增長 3%，而上半年則下降 7%去年的。

Cosmetics and accessories were the strongest merchandise areas during the quarter, while performance across geographic areas was broad-based. Similar to Ross, dd's DISCOUNTS performance also improved due to better merchandise assortments and the aforementioned moderating inflation. At quarter end, total consolidated inventories were down 15% versus last year, while average store inventories were up 4%. Packaway merchandise represented 38% of total inventories versus 41% in the same period of the prior year.

化妝品和配飾是本季度最強勁的商品領域，而各個地理區域的表現基礎廣泛。與羅斯類似，由於商品種類改善和上述通脹放緩，dd 的折扣業績也有所改善。截至季度末，綜合庫存總額比去年下降了 15%，而平均商店庫存則增長了 4%。包裝商品佔總庫存的 38%，而去年同期為 41%。

Turning to store growth. We opened 18 new Ross and 9 dd's DISCOUNT locations in the second quarter. We remain on track to open a total of approximately 100 locations this year comprised of about 75 Ross and 25 dd's. As usual, these numbers do not reflect our plans to close or relocate about 10 stores. Now Adam will provide further details on our second quarter results and additional color on our updated outlook for the remainder of fiscal 2023.

轉向商店增長。我們在第二季度新開了 18 家 Ross 店和 9 家 dd's DISCOUNT 店。今年我們仍有望開設約 100 家門店，其中約 75 家 Ross 店和 25 家 dd 店。與往常一樣，這些數字並不反映我們關閉或搬遷約 10 家商店的計劃。現在，Adam 將提供有關我們第二季度業績的更多詳細信息，以及我們對 2023 財年剩餘時間的最新展望的更多信息。

Thank you, Barbara. As previously mentioned, our comparable store sales were up 5% for the quarter, driven by higher traffic. Second quarter operating margin was flat compared to last year at 11.3%. Cost of goods sold during the period improved by 185 basis points. Merchandise margin increased 200 basis points, primarily due to lower ocean freight costs. Domestic freight declined 60 basis points while occupancy and distribution costs improved by 20 and 5 basis points, respectively.

謝謝你，芭芭拉。如前所述，由於客流量增加，本季度我們的可比商店銷售額增長了 5%。第二季度營業利潤率為 11.3%，與去年同期持平。期內銷售成本改善了 185 個基點。商品利潤率增加 200 個基點，主要是由於海運成本下降。國內貨運下降 60 個基點，而入住率和配送成本分別提高 20 和 5 個基點。

Partially offsetting these benefits were buying expenses that delevered by 100 basis points mainly due to higher incentives. SG&A for the period increased 180 basis points as higher incentive costs and store wages more than offset the leverage from higher sales. During the second quarter, we repurchased 2.2 million shares of common stock for an aggregate cost of $230 million. We remain on track to buyback a total of $950 million in stock for the year.

購買支出減少了 100 個基點，部分抵消了這些好處，這主要是由於更高的激勵措施。由於較高的激勵成本和商店工資足以抵消銷售額增加帶來的槓桿作用，該期間的銷售管理費用 (SG&A) 增加了 180 個基點。第二季度，我們回購了 220 萬股普通股，總成本為 2.3 億美元。我們仍有望在今年回購總計 9.5 億美元的股票。

Now let's discuss our outlook for the remainder of 2023. As Barbara noted in today's press release, despite the recent moderation in inflation, our low to moderate income customer continues to face persistently higher costs on necessities. As a result, we believe it is prudent to continue to plan the business cautiously. However, given our improved second quarter performance, we are raising our second half sales and earnings outlook. We are now planning comparable store sales for the third and fourth quarters of 2023 to be up 2% to 3% and 1% to 2%, respectively.

現在讓我們討論一下我們對2023 年剩餘時間的展望。正如芭芭拉在今天的新聞稿中指出的那樣，儘管近期通脹有所放緩，但我們的中低收入客戶仍然面臨著持續較高的必需品成本。因此，我們認為繼續謹慎規劃業務是明智的做法。然而，鑑於我們第二季度業績的改善，我們正在上調下半年的銷售和盈利預期。我們目前計劃 2023 年第三季度和第四季度的可比商店銷售額分別增長 2% 至 3% 和 1% 至 2%。

As noted in our press release, if the second half performs in line with these updated sales assumptions, earnings per share for the third quarter is projected to be $1.16 to $1.21 versus $1 last year, and $1.58 to $1.64 for the fourth quarter compared to $1.31 in 2022.

正如我們在新聞稿中所指出的，如果下半年的表現符合這些更新的銷售假設，那麼第三季度的每股收益預計為1.16 至1.21 美元，去年為1 美元，第四季度每股收益為1.58至1.64 美元，去年為1.31 美元2022年。

Based on our first half results and second half guidance, earnings per share for fiscal year 2023 are now planned to be in the range of $5.15 to $5.26 versus $4.38 last year. Incorporated in this updated guidance range is an estimated benefit to earnings per share of approximately $0.16 from the 53rd week in fiscal 2023.

根據我們上半年的業績和下半年的指導，2023 財年的每股收益目前計劃在 5.15 至 5.26 美元之間，而去年為 4.38 美元。更新後的指導範圍中包含從 2023 財年第 53 週開始每股收益預計將增加約 0.16 美元。

Now let's turn to our guidance assumptions for the third quarter of 2023. Total sales are forecast to increase 4% to 6% versus the prior year. We expect to open 51 stores during the quarter, including 43 Ross and 8 dd's locations. Operating margin for the third quarter is planned to be in the 10.3% to 10.5% range versus 9.8% in 2022 as the benefit from lower ocean and domestic freight costs more than offset an increase in other expenses, primarily related to incentive compensation and store wages. Net interest income is estimated to be approximately $34 million versus $2.8 million last year as we continue to benefit from higher interest rates on our cash balance. The tax rate is projected to be about 25% and diluted shares outstanding are expected to be approximately 337 million.

現在讓我們轉向 2023 年第三季度的指導假設。預計總銷售額將比上年增長 4% 至 6%。我們預計本季度將開設 51 家商店，其中包括 43 家 Ross 店和 8 家 dd's 店。第三季度的營業利潤率計劃在 10.3% 至 10.5% 範圍內，而 2022 年為 9.8%，因為海洋和國內貨運成本下降的好處足以抵消其他費用的增加，主要與激勵薪酬和商店工資相關。由於我們繼續受益於現金餘額的較高利率，預計淨利息收入約為 3400 萬美元，而去年為 280 萬美元。稅率預計約為 25%，稀釋後的流通股預計約為 3.37 億股。

Now I will turn the call over to Barbara for closing comments.

現在我將把電話轉給芭芭拉以徵求結束意見。

Thank you, Adam. While we are pleased with our above-plan results in the second quarter, the macroeconomic, geopolitical and retail environments remain uncertain. Moving forward, we remain keenly focused on delivering the most compelling bargains possible as our customer is more motivated than ever to seek the best branded value as prolonged inflation remains an issue. We will also carefully manage our expenses and inventory to maximize our potential for both sales and earnings growth. Longer term, we believe the rigorous execution of our off-price business model will allow us to consistently deliver solid results.

謝謝你，亞當。儘管我們對第二季度超出計劃的業績感到滿意，但宏觀經濟、地緣政治和零售環境仍然存在不確定性。展望未來，我們仍然專注於提供最有吸引力的討價還價，因為長期通脹仍然是一個問題，我們的客戶比以往任何時候都更有動力尋求最佳品牌價值。我們還將仔細管理我們的費用和庫存，以最大限度地發揮我們的銷售和盈利增長潛力。從長遠來看，我們相信嚴格執行我們的折扣業務模式將使我們能夠持續交付可靠的成果。

At this point, we'd like to open up the call and respond to any questions you may have.

此時，我們想打開電話並回答您可能提出的任何問題。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

And the first question comes from the line of Matthew Boss with JPMorgan.

第一個問題來自摩根大通的馬修·博斯（Matthew Boss）。

Great. Thanks and congrats on a really nice quarter. So Barbara, could you just elaborate on the improved value offerings that you cited in the release and just proactive assortment changes that you've made in stores that you think are contributing to the improved performance. If any way to speak to trends that you're seeing with traffic versus basket as the second quarter progressed and into August, that would be really helpful.

偉大的。感謝並祝賀這個季度非常美好。那麼芭芭拉，您能否詳細說明一下您在新聞稿中提到的改進的價值產品，以及您在商店中所做的、您認為有助於提高績效的主動品種變化。如果有什麼方法可以說明您在第二季度和八月份看到的流量與購物籃的趨勢，那將非常有幫助。

Matthew, let me start on overall trends for the quarter on sequential trends. We wouldn't provide specifics, but I would say comps were relatively strong across the quarter, both on a single year comp basis in a multiyear basis. On the components, as we said in the commentary, traffic was the primary driver of the 5% comp. That was true for both chains. Average basket was flat with an increase -- slight increase in the units per transaction and a lower AUR, which offset the units per transaction.

馬修，讓我從本季度連續趨勢的總體趨勢開始。我們不會提供具體細節，但我想說，整個季度的比較相對強勁，無論是單年比較還是多年比較。在組成部分上，正如我們在評論中所說，流量是 5% 的主要驅動力。兩家連鎖店都是如此。平均籃子與增長持平——每筆交易的單位數略有增加，而 AUR 較低，抵消了每筆交易的單位數。

And then, Matt, in terms of the improved value offerings, as we said before, we are really striving to offer better branded value margins to the customer. I mean, our customer is a low to moderate income customer and the merchants have been out there really chasing the business, buying closeouts really looking for compelling, compelling values in bargains, and that's across all areas in the company. It's not just one particular area. It's everywhere because that's really what the customers are responding to and because the amount of availability of the market, we've been able to do that.

然後，馬特，就改進的價值產品而言，正如我們之前所說，我們確實在努力為客戶提供更好的品牌價值利潤。我的意思是，我們的客戶是中低收入客戶，商家一直在真正追逐業務，購買清倉貨，真正尋找令人信服的、令人信服的討價還價價值，這在公司的所有領域都是如此。這不僅僅是某一特定領域。它無處不在，因為這確實是客戶的回應，而且因為市場的可用性，我們已經能夠做到這一點。

Great. And then just as a follow-up, could you expand on gross margin for the balance of this year, meaning how best to think about the opportunity to recapture markdown headwinds that we saw a year ago as the year progresses within merchandise margin? And then just multiyear, are there any structural impediments to returning to pre-pandemic operating margin levels, which I think were in the mid-13s?

偉大的。然後，作為後續行動，您能否擴大今年剩餘時間的毛利率，這意味著隨著今年商品利潤率的進展，如何最好地考慮重新抓住一年前我們看到的降價逆風的機會？那麼，就多年而言，恢復到大流行前的營業利潤率水平（我認為是 13 年代中期）是否存在任何結構性障礙？

Yes, I'll take the first piece. Matt, this is Adam. Thanks for the question. Third quarter, from an operating margin standpoint, the components will look similar to second quarter. So ocean freight was a significant tailwind for us will continue in third quarter. But I'll remind you that in fourth quarter last year, we started to see the benefits of ocean freight. So it will moderate considerably in fourth quarter. But again, to answer -- third quarter versus second quarter should be comparable on that standpoint. From a domestic freight standpoint, again, we commented in the call on 60 basis points of good news, assuming fuel costs stay the same, we'd expect that to continue through the balance of 2023.

是的，我要拿第一塊。馬特，這是亞當。謝謝你的提問。從營業利潤率的角度來看，第三季度的各組成部分將與第二季度相似。因此，海運對我們來說是一個重要的推動因素，並將在第三季度繼續下去。但我要提醒您的是，去年第四季度，我們開始看到海運的好處。因此，第四季度將大幅放緩。但再次回答——從這個角度來看，第三季度與第二季度應該具有可比性。同樣，從國內貨運的角度來看，我們在電話會議中評論了 60 個基點的好消息，假設燃油成本保持不變，我們預計這種情況將持續到 2023 年。

Other big movers, we've commented a lot about incentive cost. We knew that would be a headwind coming into the year as we outperform this year and go up against an underperforming 2022. So that was a big moving part, and that will continue in the third quarter and fourth quarter, but would also comment the way we flowed incentive costs last year's second quarter was the most impactful quarter. So it'll still be a significant headwind, but in third quarter and fourth quarter, but not as significant as second quarter.

其他大推動者，我們已經對激勵成本進行了很多評論。我們知道，這將是今年的逆風，因為我們今年表現出色，而2022 年表現不佳。因此，這是一個很大的變化部分，並將在第三季度和第四季度繼續，但也會評論方式我們去年第二季度的激勵成本流動是影響最大的季度。因此，這仍然是一個重大的阻力，但在第三季度和第四季度，但不會像第二季度那麼嚴重。

Matthew, on the long-term growth algorithm. We still believe we can achieve gradual improvement in profitability over time. In general, EBIT growth, though, will be highly dependent on sustained strong sales growth and certainly how the macroeconomic and geopolitical factors, including inflation may continue to unfold. To achieve this, obviously, strengthening our price value offerings across our entire assortment is going to be key to that success. I'd say outside top line, we continue to believe there are opportunities throughout the P&L that can help drive comp growth and EBIT margin expansion over time.

馬修，關於長期增長算法。我們仍然相信，隨著時間的推移，我們能夠逐步提高盈利能力。總的來說，息稅前利潤的增長將高度依賴於持續強勁的銷售增長，當然也取決於宏觀經濟和地緣政治因素（包括通貨膨脹）如何繼續發展。顯然，要實現這一目標，加強我們整個產品系列的價格價值產品將是成功的關鍵。我想說的是，在營收之外，我們仍然相信整個損益表中存在著機會，可以幫助推動公司增長和息稅前利潤率隨著時間的推移而擴大。

And I think you also asked markdown so we didn't answer that question. So given the elevated levels last fall, should expect some benefit as we move through the second half, obviously, assuming we deliver our sales expectations.

我認為您也問過 Markdown，所以我們沒有回答這個問題。因此，鑑於去年秋天的水平較高，假設我們實現了銷售預期，顯然，我們在下半年應該會看到一些好處。

Great color. Congrats again.

顏色很棒。再次恭喜。

The next question comes from the line of Lorraine Hutchinson with Bank of America.

下一個問題來自洛林·哈欽森 (Lorraine Hutchinson) 與美國銀行的對話。

I wanted to focus on SG&A for a minute. Understanding this year, there's a rebuild of incentive comp. How are you thinking about that line item over the longer term? And what comp would you expect to need to leverage SG&A in the out years? .

我想花一點時間關注 SG&A。了解今年，激勵補償進行了重建。從長遠來看，您如何看待該訂單項？您預計未來幾年需要什麼樣的公司來利用 SG&A？ 。

Lorraine, this is Adam. So SG&A, we knew would be pressured due to incentive costs coming into this year, and it clearly was. But most of our SG&A deleverage in the second quarter was driven by incentive costs, although higher store wages played a part in that. Also I think your kind of longer-term leverage question, 4% comp is where we think we can clearly lever in SG&A, and that fundamentally hasn't changed for us.

洛林，這是亞當。因此，我們知道由於今年的激勵成本，SG&A 將會面臨壓力，而且事實顯然確實如此。但第二季度我們的大部分銷售、管理及行政費用去槓桿化是由激勵成本推動的，儘管商店工資上漲也起到了一定作用。另外，我認為你的那種長期槓桿問題，4% 的補償是我們認為我們可以在 SG&A 中明確槓桿的地方，這對我們來說根本上沒有改變。

And then any change to your outlook on wage pressures either for this year or for the coming years? .

那麼您對今年或未來幾年工資壓力的看法有什麼變化嗎？ 。

Sure, Lorraine. Generally speaking, wages in our stores and DCs are relatively stable. So there was no change to the outlook for 2023. We continue to take a market-by-market approach to staffing and we do adjust wages where appropriate in individual markets. I say longer term, I think it's going to be dependent on the statutory environment that's really what's driven our wage growth over the last few years.

當然，洛林。總體來說，我們門店和配送中心的工資是比較穩定的。因此，2023 年的前景沒有變化。我們繼續對人員配置採取逐個市場的方法，並在個別市場適當的情況下調整工資。我說從長遠來看，我認為這將取決於法定環境，這才是過去幾年推動我們工資增長的真正原因。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

And the next question comes from the line of Mark Altschwager with Baird.

下一個問題來自 Mark Altschwager 和 Baird 的對話。

Back to the top line for a moment, just with the positive inflection you're seeing in comps, what's your level of confidence that the business can return to a 3%, 3% plus next year? And bigger picture, do you think you've hit the point where the value is resonating in a way that it can trump the inflationary pressure your consumer is feeling elsewhere. I guess, asked another way, tough times is when we would think more customers would need Ross and the trade down can drive the top line. Do you think that's where we are today?

暫時回到最上面，鑑於您在比較中看到的積極變化，您對明年業務能夠恢復到 3%、3% 以上的信心程度如何？從更大的角度來看，您是否認為您已經達到了價值產生共鳴的程度，從而可以勝過消費者在其他地方感受到的通脹壓力。我想，用另一種方式問，困難時期是我們認為更多的客戶需要羅斯，而交易下降可以提高收入。你認為這就是我們今天的處境嗎？

Here's how I'd answer that. Generally speaking, we can control what we can control. We know that we made some progress improving our assortments during the second quarter. We also know there's -- we can make significantly more improvements. And with that, I think that gives us confidence or that we can continue to grow comp. Longer term, when we start talking about next year, I think we'll be in a better position to see what the outlook is when we give our earnings guidance early next year. So we'll continue to monitor the economy. It still remains very uncertain, and we'll do what we can to offer the customer the best possible value possible in this environment, which is very important to our customers.

我是這樣回答的。一般來說，我們可以控制我們能控制的事情。我們知道，第二季度我們在改善產品種類方面取得了一些進展。我們還知道，我們可以做出更多顯著的改進。有了這個，我認為這給了我們信心，或者說我們可以繼續提高競爭力。從長遠來看，當我們開始談論明年時，我認為當我們在明年初給出盈利指引時，我們將能夠更好地了解前景。因此，我們將繼續監控經濟。它仍然非常不確定，我們將盡我們所能，在這種環境下為客戶提供盡可能最好的價值，這對我們的客戶來說非常重要。

I think the other piece, Mark, is that if we continue to improve on our value offerings, we really think that, that's the way to gain share across all customer income demographics. So if we do a good, better, best strategy, and we have incredible values, we have more of an opportunity to gain more customers.

馬克，我認為另一件事是，如果我們繼續改進我們的價值產品，我們真的認為，這就是在所有客戶收入人群中獲得份額的方法。因此，如果我們採取良好、更好、最好的策略，並且我們擁有令人難以置信的價值，那麼我們就有更多機會獲得更多客戶。

And our next question comes from the line of Chuck Grom with Gordon Haskett.

我們的下一個問題來自查克·格羅姆和戈登·哈斯克特的台詞。

Can you guys hear me?

你們能聽到我說話嗎？

We can.

我們可以。

I wanted to see if you guys are talking about the home category a little bit. You called out cosmetics and accessories being areas of strength, your largest peer at the end of the day, you talked about home being strong. And I was wondering if you could talk about that and also tie in what's happened with the bath.

我想看看你們是否在談論家居類別。你指出化妝品和配飾是你的優勢領域，你最大的同行在一天結束時，你談到了家居的強大。我想知道你是否可以談談這一點，並把洗澡時發生的事情聯繫起來。

I'm sorry. I didn't catch the last piece you said. With?

對不起。你說的最後一段我沒聽清。和？

If you could just tie in any benefit you think you saw in the quarter and could expect to see in the coming quarters from bed, bath and beyond.

如果您能將您認為在本季度看到的任何好處與預期在未來幾個季度從床上、浴室等方面看到的任何好處聯繫起來。

From bed, bath and beyond. Okay, sorry. Home also performed above the chain average. And so we feel that there's a lot of growth still left in home for us, pretty broad-based across the board. In terms of bed, bath and beyond, two thoughts. One is that they lost a lot of volume prior to that even happening and the classification that they carried where we have overlap.

從床上、洗澡等等。哦抱歉。 Home 的表現也高於環比平均水平。因此，我們認為我們的國內市場仍然有很大的增長空間，而且基礎相當廣泛。在床、浴室和其他方面，有兩種想法。其一是，在發生這種情況之前，它們就損失了很多數量，並且在我們重疊的地方進行了分類。

I think over time, we could pick up more volume perhaps, but I think that's very hard to measure. And you have to have overlap of the locations. So I think there's some opportunity how to measure that. I'm not really sure how to measure it. I think of it more as a total home package. We feel like we have a lot of growth in home still ahead of us. And again, I think that's pretty broad-based.

我認為隨著時間的推移，我們也許可以增加更多的銷量，但我認為這很難衡量。而且位置必須重疊。所以我認為有一些機會來衡量這一點。我不太確定如何測量它。我認為它更像是一個完整的家庭套餐。我們覺得我們在國內還有很大的發展空間。再說一次，我認為這是非常廣泛的。

And just as a quick follow-up. Do you like the home category is starting to form a base after several quarters now of attrition?

就像快速跟進一樣。您是否喜歡家居類別在經過幾個季度的消耗之後開始形成基礎？

You mean specifically to us or you mean in the world.

您指的是專門針對我們的，或者您指的是全世界的。

I guess both because it seems like more people are starting to talked about the home category starting to form the bottom.

我猜兩者都是因為似乎越來越多的人開始談論家居類別開始形成底部。

Yes. Look, I think it depends on where you are in your development of the home business. So we have some businesses that are more developed than others. And so I think as we develop some of those other businesses, it will help us to continue to grow that as opposed to if we were in every business and everything was developed. So all businesses within our home business are not created equal. And so I think, Ross, we still see opportunity. In terms of the outside world, yes, there are a lot of people in home, and it goes back to what you're offering. So if I take the whole value equation for us in the entire box that would include home and making sure that we have the right values to continue to grow that business and then to maximize the areas where we are still what I would call underdeveloped.

是的。看，我認為這取決於您在家庭業務發展中所處的位置。所以我們有一些業務比其他業務更發達。因此，我認為，當我們發展其他一些業務時，這將有助於我們繼續發展，而不是如果我們涉足每項業務並且一切都得到發展。因此，我們家庭企業中的所有企業並非生而平等。所以我認為，羅斯，我們仍然看到了機會。就外界而言，是的，家裡有很多人，這又回到了你所提供的東西。因此，如果我在整個盒子中考慮我們的整個價值方程，其中包括家庭，並確保我們擁有正確的價值觀來繼續發展該業務，然後最大化我們仍然所謂的欠發達地區。

And the next question comes from the line of Paul Lejuez with Citigroup.

下一個問題來自花旗集團的 Paul Lejuez。

Curious how dd's performed relative to Ross. I think you said you saw improvement at both. But curious on an absolute basis how dd's performed. I think it's been underperforming for about a year now. And so also curious if you think that underperformance continues or perhaps do easier comparisons cause dd's to start to outperform the Ross concept just whatever is built into your assumption?

很好奇dd相對於羅斯的表現如何。我想你說過你在這兩方面都看到了進步。但絕對好奇 dd 的表現如何。我認為它已經表現不佳大約一年了。同樣好奇的是，您是否認為表現不佳持續存在，或者可能進行更簡單的比較會導致 dd 開始超越羅斯概念，無論您的假設是什麼？

Paul, I would say, as we mentioned in the commentary, dd's performance also improved during the quarter versus first quarter, and we believe that's a combination of better assortments and like Ross moderating inflation. That said, dd's sales trends continued to trail Ross. As a reminder, the dd's average household income is more impacted by the inflation, especially on necessities, their average household income is $40,000 to $45,000 compared to $60,000 to $65,000 for Ross. Our strategy here is very similar. We are very focused on offering strong values, which is very important to the dd's customer today.

保羅，我想說，正如我們在評論中提到的，與第一季度相比，DD 的業績在本季度也有所改善，我們相信這是更好的品種和像羅斯那樣緩和通貨膨脹的結合。也就是說，dd 的銷售趨勢繼續落後於 Ross。提醒一下，dd的平均家庭收入受通貨膨脹的影響更大，尤其是必需品方面，他們的平均家庭收入為40,000美元至45,000美元，而Ross的平均家庭收入為60,000美元至65,000美元。我們的策略非常相似。我們非常注重提供強大的價值，這對於當今 dd 的客戶來說非常重要。

And the next question comes from the line of Adrienne Yih with Barclays.

下一個問題來自 Adrienne Yih 與巴克萊銀行的對話。

Great. Thank you very much. Barbara, I wanted to ask you about the packaway merchandise. I mean, a shade lower than last year. I was just wondering if you can talk about how much of that packaway is actually short stay intra-season versus kind of annualized, I know you tend to do more of the short stay. And then the supply chain sort of being unlocked. Obviously, I would assume that, that allows you to play in that kind of short stay much more effectively.

偉大的。非常感謝。芭芭拉，我想問你關於包裝商品的事。我的意思是，比去年低了一些。我只是想知道您是否可以談談，其中有多少實際上是季節內的短期住宿，而不是年化的，我知道您傾向於做更多的短期住宿。然後供應鏈就被解鎖了。顯然，我認為，這可以讓你在這種短暫的停留中更有效地發揮作用。

My second just follow-up question is on the direct import side, you don't do as much direct imports. So I'm just curious how much of the ocean -- sort of the model mix ocean air versus domestic, right? Sort of that outbound, I suppose, rail trucking. Is that rail trucking the domestic portion of it outweighing the ocean air, if I could ask that.

我的第二個後續問題是在直接進口方面，您沒有進行那麼多的直接進口。所以我只是好奇海洋中有多少——某種模型混合了海洋空氣與國內空氣，對嗎？我想，有點像出境鐵路貨運。如果我可以問的話，鐵路卡車運輸的國內部分是否超過了海洋空氣？

I'll answer the question on the transportation. Ocean freight, despite the fact that direct imports is a smaller part of our business, Ocean freight had a larger impact than the domestic transportation. The domestic transportation, you can see it separately within our gross margin was driven by better rates, but within the year, fuel rates have come down versus our expectations, which is where we saw a benefit in the first quarter -- our second quarter, sorry.

我來回答關於交通的問題。海運，儘管直接進口占我們業務的比例較小，但海運的影響比國內運輸更大。國內運輸，你可以在我們的毛利率中單獨看到它是由更好的費率推動的，但在一年內，燃油費率比我們的預期有所下降，這是我們在第一季度- 我們的第二季度看到的好處，對不起。

And then in terms of short stays of packaway, it means the mix of what we would define or guess what you're defining as longer stays versus short stays of product. And that very much depends on when you're buying, right? So if you're buying packaway for next year, that would be something that would be happening more along the lines of this -- kind of this time frame. So again, there's always a mix and it fluctuates based off of what we find, what we want to pack, what that looks like.

然後就打包的短期停留而言，這意味著我們定義或猜測您所定義的產品的長期停留與短期停留的混合。這很大程度上取決於您購買的時間，對吧？因此，如果你要購買明年的打包商品，那麼這將是更多沿著這個時間框架發生的事情。再說一次，總有一種混合，它會根據我們發現的東西、我們想要包裝的東西以及它的外觀而波動。

So there's no formula to that. It's really about what's the best possible deal, the possible value we can get for the customers. So that moves around. But it is a combination of both. And at this particular time, it's kind of like you haven't necessarily put out all your call, and you haven't necessarily put in all your spring if you were talking on the apparel side. The supply chain unlock in terms of a short stay in the hotel, are you implying on our direct imports or you implying in the outside world?

所以這沒有公式。這實際上是關於什麼是最好的交易，什麼是我們可以為客戶獲得的可能價值。這樣就可以移動了。但它是兩者的結合。在這個特定的時間，如果你談論服裝方面，就好像你不一定會全力以赴，也不一定會全力以赴。供應鏈的解鎖是指在酒店短暫停留，您是指我們直接進口還是您指的是外部世界？

In either. Probably both, if you can share that? .

無論是在。可能兩者都有，你能分享一下嗎？ 。

Yes. So the short stays in terms of putting in the hotel, we don't necessarily put goods that we bring in ourselves in the hotel in any big way unless we have to. Now a year ago, when we handle the carrier issues. Obviously, the goods arrived early, we took the goods in, we released them. Sometimes we do -- we put goods in there for short stays for a variety of reasons. Container side, there's a variety of reasons why we do it. But it's not something that we like to do as a big -- as a large strategy in home with our own imports, but we do, do some.

是的。因此，就酒店的短期住宿而言，除非迫不得已，否則我們不一定會將自己帶來的物品大量地放置在酒店中。一年前，當我們處理運營商問題時。顯然，貨物提前到達，我們收貨，我們放貨。有時我們會這樣做——出於各種原因，我們將貨物放在那裡進行短期停留。在容器方面，我們這樣做的原因有很多。但這不是我們喜歡做的事情，作為我們自己進口的國內大型戰略，但我們確實做了一些。

So the supply chain timing of the unlock for, I'll call it, business as usual prior to the casual, the carrier issues. Again, we manage that very closely. It really was last year in this time frame where all those goods came in, we had to put it in and then metered out at the appropriate time for the customer. Otherwise, we would have been off seasonality and a variety of other issues along with that.

因此，供應鏈解鎖的時機，我稱之為，在臨時的運營商問題之前一切照舊。同樣，我們對此進行了非常密切的管理。確實是在去年的這個時間範圍內，所有這些貨物都進來了，我們必須將其放入，然後在適當的時間為客戶計量。否則，我們就會遇到季節性問題以及隨之而來的各種其他問題。

And the next question comes from the line of Brooke Roach with Goldman Sachs.

下一個問題來自布魯克·羅奇（Brooke Roach）與高盛的對話。

Barbara, you talked about the opportunity to continue to improve your assortment as you move forward following some early gains. Was there any change in your mix this quarter between good, better, best. And how are you planning those buys between the assortment of good, better, best into the second half of the year?

芭芭拉（Barbara），您談到了在取得一些早期成果後繼續前進的過程中繼續改進您的品種的機會。本季度您的組合在“好”、“更好”、“最好”之間是否有任何變化？您如何計劃在下半年購買各種好、更好、最好的產品？

Change in good, better, best. I don't really think there was a significant change in our good, better, best strategy. Best has been out there in the market a while. There's been a lot of availability. So a lot of what for this past quarter that would have affected what you would have seen on the floor in terms of the three buckets was the amount of merchandise that we chased based -- and the availability in the market. And so since the availability in the market is pretty broad-based between good, better, best, I mean, as usual, not every class, every price point. I think the assortments are more reflective of what we've been able to chase.

改變為好的、更好的、最好的。我真的不認為我們的好、更好、最好的策略有重大變化。 Best 已經上市有一段時間了。有很多可用的。因此，在過去的一個季度中，影響您在三個桶中看到的商品的很多因素是我們追逐的商品數量以及市場上的供應情況。因此，由於市場上的可用性相當廣泛，介於好、更好、最好之間，我的意思是，像往常一樣，不是每個級別、每個價位。我認為這些品種更能反映我們所追求的東西。

And I would say the same thing for fall. Obviously, we have a strategy around balance. But when you're chasing as much as we're chasing, that kind of really goes to what the customer is voting on, and what we can get in the market. And I think the merchants in Q2 did a very good job of getting values on the floor, chasing back into more of what you wanted and trying to hit the appropriate levels of each one of those buckets because the customer votes every day. So we could want a particular good, better, best on the floor. That's not necessarily what the customer wants.

對於秋天我也會說同樣的話。顯然，我們有一個圍繞平衡的策略。但當你和我們一樣追求時，這實際上取決於客戶投票的內容以及我們可以在市場上獲得的東西。我認為第二季度的商家在獲得價值方面做得非常好，追回更多你想要的東西，並嘗試達到每個桶的適當水平，因為客戶每天都會投票。所以我們可能想要場上有一個特別好的、更好的、最好的。這不一定是客戶想要的。

So I think the merchants have really been out in the market and really, really looking for great deals, which have been out there. And so it fluctuates. And I would expect it would fluctuate in Q3 and Q4. But we are looking for each one of those buckets and great deals in all of them.

因此，我認為商家確實已經進入市場，並且真的非常非常地尋找很棒的交易，而這些交易已經存在了。所以它會波動。我預計第三季度和第四季度會出現波動。但我們正在尋找其中的每一個桶以及所有這些桶中的超值優惠。

And the next question comes from the line of Dana Telsey with Telsey Advisory Group.

下一個問題來自 Telsey Advisory Group 的 Dana Telsey。

Nice to see the nice results. As you think about the current environment, I believe last time, Barbara, you had mentioned the focus on value that the consumers are searching for and you could do a better job of it. How much is the improvement that we saw this quarter? Is the comparison given the increase in traffic, how much of it was the consumer? And how much of it on your journey of better value for better brands? How much of it is your progress there? And where are you versus relative to where you want to be? And then just any updates on new store productivity levels, how those are doing versus your plan?

很高興看到好的結果。當你思考當前的環境時，我相信芭芭拉，你上次提到了對消費者正在尋找的價值的關注，你可以做得更好。本季度我們看到了多少改進？比較是否考慮到流量的增加，其中有多少是消費者？在您為更好的品牌創造更大價值的旅程中，其中有多少？你在那裡取得了多少進展？相對於你想要達到的目標，你現在處於什麼位置？然後是關於新店生產力水平的任何更新，這些生產力水平與您的計劃相比如何？

Dana, on the productivity levels, they haven't changed. They've averaged between 60% and 65% of an average mature store for the chain, and that has not changed over time.

達納，在生產力水平上，他們沒有改變。他們的平均銷售額為該連鎖店平均成熟商店的 60% 至 65%，而且這一點並沒有隨著時間的推移而改變。

I'll talk about traffic.

我來談談交通。

Traffic. So on traffic -- your question on traffic. So traffic was the main driver of the comp for the quarter.

交通。那麼關於交通——你關於交通的問題。因此，流量是本季度業績的主要驅動力。

And where is the customer on the journey. Look, I think the customer with moderating inflation is feeling a little bit little bit more room to spend money. But again, our customer is moderate to low income customers. So they still faces inflation in front of her because she has just the higher cost of the necessity she has to spend. So I think on our journey with the customer in terms of better value and better values on the floor, I think, it's a continual process, right? The customer votes and the merchants are out buying goods and responding to what she's voting on. So I think from -- in second quarter versus first quarter, I think the merchant team did a better job of offering her broader assortments and better values.

客戶在旅途中在哪裡？聽著，我認為通脹溫和的消費者感覺花錢的空間更大了。但同樣，我們的客戶是中低收入客戶。因此，他們仍然面臨著通貨膨脹，因為她必須花費的必需品成本更高。因此，我認為在我們與客戶的旅程中，就更好的價值和更好的價值而言，我認為這是一個持續的過程，對嗎？顧客投票，商家出去購買商品並對她的投票做出回應。因此，我認為，與第一季度相比，第二季度，我認為商家團隊在提供更廣泛的品種和更好的價值方面做得更好。

And I think we'll continue to make progress on that, and it will seek its own level. It's not really a target or a level that we have in mind. It's just how the customer responds. And obviously, we want to put out the best possible values we always can. And so the merchants have that mind and now they have really heightened awareness and the ability to chase goods has really given us an opportunity to perhaps accelerate some of those things. So again, it will continue. I don't have a beginning or an end amount that we think you should ask because I think the customer will decide for us and our job and the merchant team's job is to respond to that and satisfy her on whatever level that is.

我認為我們將繼續在這方面取得進展，並將尋求自己的水平。這並不是我們真正想要的目標或水平。這就是客戶的反應。顯然，我們希望盡可能地提供最好的價值觀。所以商人有這樣的想法，現在他們確實提高了意識，追逐商品的能力確實給了我們一個機會，也許可以加速其中一些事情。如此一來，它還會繼續下去。我沒有我們認為您應該詢問的開始或結束金額，因為我認為客戶將為我們和我們的工作做出決定，而商家團隊的工作就是對此做出回應並在任何級別上滿足她。

And the next question comes from the line of Alex Straton with Morgan Stanley.

下一個問題來自亞歷克斯·斯特拉頓 (Alex Straton) 與摩根士丹利 (Morgan Stanley) 的對話。

Great. Congrats on a nice quarter. I wanted to talk about the competitive landscape. On our end, we've witnessed the rise of these low-priced e-commerce players in recent years like even Shein. So I'm just wondering like how maybe, Barbara, you think about those types of businesses, what they mean for Ross or even how the competitive landscape has changed now versus a few years ago?

偉大的。恭喜您度過了一個美好的季度。我想談談競爭格局。就我們而言，我們見證了近年來這些低價電商的崛起，甚至包括 Shein。所以我只是想知道，芭芭拉，你如何看待這些類型的企業，它們對羅斯意味著什麼，甚至現在的競爭格局與幾年前相比有何變化？

Sure. Well, obviously, Shein's doing a lot of business, and they offer great value. We have a -- our junior business is a pretty large business for us in ladies apparel. So I think that would be most comparable. I don't think I can really compare myself to Shein. I think the reality of it is there's a lot more competition in that arena, whether it's Shein, whether it's Primark, whether -- so I think it's just our job to be able to offer assortments that satisfy the customer.

當然。嗯，顯然，Shein 做了很多生意，而且它們提供了巨大的價值。我們的初級業務對我們來說是一個相當大的女裝業務。所以我認為這最具可比性。我認為我無法將自己與 Shein 進行比較。我認為現實情況是，這個領域存在更多的競爭，無論是 Shein，無論是 Primark，還是——所以我認為我們的工作就是能夠提供令客戶滿意的產品組合。

And again, they're just like another competitor. In terms of -- if you think about all the competitors, right? Department stores years ago had a lot more share so that would have been a major competitor for us. I think -- I mean, you would know better than I would know, you're watching the world evolve and different segments of the market are more challenging than others. And so I think one of the best parts about being in off-price is that we have a unique opportunity to satisfy all types of customers. This is why we want the assortments to be broad. This is why we want the values to be strong.

再說一遍，他們就像另一個競爭對手一樣。就——如果你考慮一下所有的競爭對手，對嗎？幾年前，百貨公司擁有更多的份額，因此它們將成為我們的主要競爭對手。我認為——我的意思是，你會比我更清楚，你正在觀察世界的演變，而市場的不同部分比其他部分更具挑戰性。因此，我認為折扣的最大好處之一是我們有獨特的機會來滿足所有類型的客戶。這就是為什麼我們希望產品種類廣泛。這就是為什麼我們希望價值觀堅強。

And everyone keeps asking about the trade down customer. I think just getting more customers is really by broadening your assortment. And I think off-price has a unique opportunity to do that, versus if I mean, another particular segment. So if the merchants obviously study Shein, they study all the other retailers and their job is to understand what they offer and what we can offer and to give the best product and the best value that we can. And I think there's been -- if we looked at this and had this discussion 10 years ago, it would be a very different discussion than where we are today.

每個人都不斷詢問降價客戶的情況。我認為只有擴大產品種類才能吸引更多客戶。我認為折扣有一個獨特的機會做到這一點，而不是另一個特定的細分市場。因此，如果商家顯然研究了 Shein，他們就會研究所有其他零售商，他們的工作就是了解他們提供什麼以及我們可以提供什麼，並儘我們所能提供最好的產品和最佳價值。我認為，如果我們在 10 年前審視這一點並進行討論，那將是一次與我們今天截然不同的討論。

So retailing is -- I think we probably all agree dynamic. And so -- but I do believe that off-price has this unique opportunity because it carries lots of products, and it has the ability to flex based off of the customer and you're not kind of pigeonholed into one view of who you are, you can flex and move with what the customer wants. So I think off-price is in the right place at the right time.

所以我想我們可能都同意零售業是動態的。所以，但我確實相信折扣有這個獨特的機會，因為它有很多產品，並且有能力根據客戶進行靈活調整，而且你不會被束縛在一種關於你是誰的觀點中，您可以根據客戶的需求靈活調整。所以我認為折扣是在正確的時間出現在正確的地點。

And the next question comes from the line of Ike Boruchow with Wells Fargo.

下一個問題來自艾克·博魯喬 (Ike Boruchow) 與富國銀行 (Wells Fargo) 的對話。

This is Julianna on for Ike. Congrats on a good quarter. Maybe just a quick follow-up on AUR. Is the moderation we're seeing there more result of mix shift towards cosmetic and accessories. For example, we saw this quarter. And as we see home performance improving, do you see that driving an upside there?

這是艾克的朱莉安娜。祝賀季度表現良好。也許只是對 AUR 的快速跟進。我們看到的是適度的混合轉向化妝品和配飾的更多結果。例如，我們看到了本季度。當我們看到主場表現有所改善時，您認為這會帶來好處嗎？

On the AUR, it was a combination of mix shift and us providing better values to the customer. The way we think about it going forward is we really don't plan the business on traffic or transactions. We think if we offer the best values that will have an impact on both traffic and basket size. AURs will fundamentally be dependent on the mix of sales in the business.

在 AUR 上，這是混合轉變和我們為客戶提供更好價值的結合。我們對未來的思考方式是，我們確實不會根據流量或交易來規劃業務。我們認為，如果我們提供最佳價值，將對流量和購物籃規模產生影響。 AUR 從根本上取決於業務的銷售組合。

And in terms of home, listen, I feel like we -- what I said, we have opportunity in home. And so that compared to the company is there are upside versus other businesses, I think, over time. Home is not -- home is longer lead time type businesses and things, but I do believe there is upside.

就家庭而言，聽著，我覺得我們——正如我所說，我們在家裡有機會。因此，我認為，隨著時間的推移，與該公司相比，與其他企業相比，該公司存在優勢。家庭不是——家庭是交貨時間較長的企業和事物，但我確實相信有好處。

And the next question comes from the line of Marni Shapiro with The Retail Tracker.

下一個問題來自 Marni Shapiro 與 The Retail Tracker 的對話。

Congratulations on a great quarter. I'm curious, in most of your regions or a lot of your regions, students are back-to-school. I'm curious if you saw early pickup for traffic for back-to-school and what the trends were looking like? And just in general, I'm curious if you guys are seeing sort of the peaks and valleys in your traffic around holidays where holiday weekends or holiday events, the traffic is much higher. And when it's in the valley, it's lower? Or has it evened out a little bit?

祝賀您度過了一個美好的季度。我很好奇，在你們的大部分地區或很多地區，學生們都回到了學校。我很好奇您是否看到返校期間交通提前回升以及趨勢如何？總的來說，我很好奇你們是否在假期期間看到了交通的高峰和低谷，其中假期週末或假期活動的交通量要高得多。當它在山谷中時，它會更低嗎？還是已經趨於平衡了一點？

Hi, Marni, we wouldn't talk about intra-quarter trends for back-to-school. In terms of traffic, I would say in our business, it's been very steady versus peaks and valleys that you mentioned.

嗨，瑪尼，我們不會談論返校季內的趨勢。就流量而言，我想說，在我們的業務中，與您提到的高峰和低谷相比，它非常穩定。

And the next question comes from the line of Laura Champine with Loop Capital Markets.

下一個問題來自 Loop Capital Markets 的 Laura Champine。

I noted that this was the third quarter in a row of inventories down double digits, which seems just to be normalization. But do you have enough inventory in your opinion, given the current improvement in sales trend?

我注意到，這是庫存連續第三個季度下降兩位數，這似乎只是正常化。但鑑於目前銷售趨勢的改善，您認為您的庫存是否足夠？

Laura. Yes, the reduction in inventory was down 15%, as we mentioned in the release, and that was really about the comparison versus last year where we had as Barbara mentioned, substantial amount of early receipts that we had to store in our packaway facilities and also higher end transit inventory. So we're up against those larger numbers last year. We feel good about our overall inventory levels. We actually ended up 4% in our stores. So I would say, overall, the level and content of the inventory we're happy with.

勞拉。是的，正如我們在新聞稿中提到的，庫存減少了15%，這實際上是與去年相比，正如芭芭拉提到的，我們必須將大量早期收貨存儲在我們的包裝設施中，並且還有高端運輸庫存。所以我們去年面臨著更大的數字。我們對整體庫存水平感覺良好。實際上，我們的商店裡有 4% 的利潤。所以我想說，總的來說，我們對庫存的水平和內容感到滿意。

And the next question comes from the line of Edward Yruma with Piper Sandler.

下一個問題來自愛德華·尤魯瑪和派珀·桑德勒的台詞。

Just quickly, I know you cited strength in cosmetics and accessories. Kind of curious on inventory availability there if you're chasing there. Obviously, there's a proposed M&A in this space, would that impact, in your opinion, kind of accessory availability long term?

很快，我知道您提到了化妝品和配飾的優勢。如果您正在追逐那裡，對那裡的庫存可用性有點好奇。顯然，這個領域有一項擬議的併購，您認為這會影響配件的長期供應嗎？

And then just a model housekeeping question. I noticed that accrued payrolls were up pretty materially year-over-year and sequentially. Any driver you'd like to call out there would be great.

然後是一個典型的家政問題。我注意到應計工資逐年大幅增長。任何你想叫的司機都會很棒。

On the last piece, accrued payroll, it's really our financial performance. So incentive costs are up. And when you look at that this year versus last year comparison.

最後一部分，即應計工資，它實際上是我們的財務績效。所以激勵成本上升了。當你看一下今年與去年的比較時。

And I just want to make sure on the cosmetic and accessory question, you want to know what the availability is.

我只是想確定一下關於化妝品和配件的問題，您想知道可用性是什麼。

Yes. Just kind of curious if you're seeing good product in the market and if you're willing to opine on this M&A that may happen in the space, like would that hamper your availability in accessory space longer term?

是的。只是有點好奇，如果您在市場上看到了好的產品，並且您是否願意對該領域可能發生的併購發表意見，那麼從長遠來看，這會妨礙您在配件領域的可用性嗎？

Look, there's availability in almost every market, as I said in the beginning, I mean, not every class in every business in every market has availability. But both cosmetics and accessories have availabilities just depending upon what it is you're looking for. The second piece of the question, I'm not sure...

看，幾乎每個市場都有可用性，正如我一開始所說的，我的意思是，並非每個市場每個業務的每個類別都有可用性。但化妝品和配飾都有，具體取決於您想要什麼。問題的第二部分，我不確定......

We wouldn't comment on the M&A in the market.

我們不對市場上的併購發表評論。

And the next question comes from the line of Aneesha Sherman with Bernstein.

下一個問題來自阿尼莎謝爾曼和伯恩斯坦的對話。

So similar to last quarter, your new guidance also models a comp acceleration on a 4-year stack. Can you talk about what makes you confident about that acceleration going into the second half? Is it more about external factors like inflation moderating? Or is it about internal execution and bringing a better product to the market?

與上季度類似，您的新指導也對 4 年堆棧的比較加速進行了建模。您能談談是什麼讓您對下半年的加速充滿信心嗎？是否更多地與通脹放緩等外部因素有關？或者是關於內部執行並將更好的產品推向市場？

And then second, some other discount retailers have talked this week about absorbing inflation and doing price rollbacks for back-to-school. Do you expect fall and back-to-school to become quite promotional across the sector?

其次，其他一些折扣零售商本周也談到了吸收通脹和為返校進行價格回滾的問題。您預計秋季和返校季會在整個行業變得相當促銷嗎？

On the guidance, Aneesha, I think it's a function of how we performed in the second quarter and our confidence in the assortments we're providing the customer. I'd say that's what's driving our guidance in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, we actually see a deceleration, and we'll update that as we get closer. We think the fourth quarters could be a very promotional holiday season.

關於指導，Aneesha，我認為這取決於我們第二季度的表現以及我們對為客戶提供的產品種類的信心。我想說這就是推動我們第三季度業績指引的因素。在第四季度，我們實際上看到了減速，我們將在臨近時進行更新。我們認為第四季度可能是一個非常促銷的假期季節。

And the next question comes from the line of Corey Tarlowe with Jefferies.

下一個問題來自科里·塔洛和杰弗里斯的對話。

You talked about cosmetics and accessories and a little bit on home. I was wondering if you could also touch on footwear and apparel, anything you're seeing there? How did that perform relative to the chain average? And then just on real estate, what's the availability look like? And is there any impact that you're seeing as you look down your real estate pipeline in terms of the impact from potentially higher rates on -- higher interest rates on either rental agreements or returns that you're seeing?

您談到了化妝品和配飾，還有一些關於家居的話題。我想知道您是否也可以談談鞋類和服裝，或者您在那裡看到的任何東西？相對於環比平均水平表現如何？那麼就房地產而言，可用性是什麼樣的？當您審視房地產渠道時，您是否會看到潛在更高利率對您所看到的租賃協議或回報的更高利率的影響？

Sure. Merchant-wise, let me talk about the category performance. Merchandise-wise, cosmetics and accessories, as we mentioned, we're again the best performing businesses. Shoes and Home were above the chain average. Apparel trailed the chain, although it performed above our plan and improved versus Q1. .

當然。商家方面，我來說說品類表現。正如我們提到的，在商品方面，化妝品和配飾，我們再次成為表現最好的企業。鞋類和家居類產品高於環比平均水平。服裝行業落後於連鎖店，儘管它的表現超出了我們的計劃，並且比第一季度有所改善。 。

On real estate availability, I'd say, overall, there's been an increased interest from other retailers and the types of real estate that we typically prefer. That said, our team has a very methodical process of developing a healthy real estate pipeline to support our long-term growth plans.

關於房地產供應，我想說，總體而言，其他零售商和我們通常喜歡的房地產類型的興趣越來越大。也就是說，我們的團隊有一個非常有條理的流程來開發健康的房地產管道，以支持我們的長期增長計劃。

And in terms of rent, obviously, we're under contract and have option renewals, and we're not seeing, at this point, major increases in our rent costs.

就租金而言，顯然，我們簽訂了合同並可以選擇續約，目前我們還沒有看到租金成本大幅增加。

And the next question comes from the line of John Kernan with TD Cowen.

下一個問題來自 John Kernan 和 TD Cowen 的對話。

This is Krista Zuber on behalf of John. Just given the still broadly highly promotional environment across retail heading into the second half in your sharper value proposition. I wonder if you could just talk to rather broadly or directionally, how you see sort of your merchandise margin in relation to your Q3 operating margin guidance.

我是克里斯塔·祖伯，代表約翰。考慮到下半年零售業仍處於廣泛的高度促銷環境，您的價值主張更加清晰。我想知道您是否可以更廣泛或定向地談談您如何看待與第三季度營業利潤指導相關的商品利潤率。

Krista, merchandise margin will continue to be primarily driven by ocean freight benefit. I mentioned earlier, we'll have a little bit of tailwind just from as we had elevated markdown levels, that will be helped to us. And really, that's all we see as major moving components within merchandise margin.

Krista 表示，商品利潤率將繼續主要受到海運收益的推動。我之前提到過，由於我們提高了降價水平，我們將獲得一點順風，這將對我們有所幫助。事實上，這就是我們所看到的商品利潤率的主要變化因素。

We have time for one final question coming from the line of Jay Sole with UBS.

我們有時間回答來自瑞銀集團的 Jay Sole 的最後一個問題。

I guess if you just take a step back and just give us an idea of how the overall inventory buying environment compares right now to a year ago? Because if you go back a year ago, it was really a time where a lot of retailers and just the whole industry realized how much excess inventory had been built up post reopening and I think sort of the slowdown as inflation really started to kick in. So could you just give us an idea of how you think about the environment now relative to them? Is it as good? Is it better? Is it a little bit worse? Is it a lot worse? Any kind of context there would be helpful.

我想如果您退後一步，讓我們了解一下現在的整體庫存購買環境與一年前相比如何？因為如果你回到一年前，那確實是一個時期，許多零售商和整個行業都意識到重新開業後庫存積壓了多少，我認為隨著通貨膨脹真正開始發揮作用，庫存放緩了。那麼您能否告訴我們您如何看待現在相對於他們的環境？也一樣好嗎？好點嗎？是不是稍微差了一點？是不是還差很多呢？任何類型的背景都會有幫助。

There was a lot of availability last year, and there's a lot of availability now. And again, it's broad-based, obviously, again, not every single classification of business. But there is definitely supply, it was there last year and it's there again this year.

去年有很多可用空間，現在也有很多可用空間。再次強調，它的基礎很廣泛，顯然不是每一個業務類別。但供應肯定是有的，去年就有，今年也有。

There are no further questions at this time. I'd now like to turn the floor back over to Barbara Rentler for any closing comments.

目前沒有其他問題。現在我想把發言權交還給芭芭拉·倫特勒（Barbara Rentler），徵求結束語。

Thank you for joining us today and for your interest in Ross Stores.

感謝您今天加入我們以及您對羅斯商店的興趣。

This concludes today's teleconference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation, and have a great day.

今天的電話會議到此結束。此時您可以斷開線路。感謝您的參與，祝您有美好的一天。